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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23437642">The Language of Tir Fradi, the Yecht Fradi: a Dictionary and Guide</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaughingTiger/pseuds/LaughingTiger'>LaughingTiger</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>GreedFall (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Other</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 12:06:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>971</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23437642</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaughingTiger/pseuds/LaughingTiger</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Consisting of notes and observations concerning the language of the natives of Tir Fradi, as well as a dictionary of translated words and places and deconstructed roots used in the language. ~De Courcillon Fecit~ </p>
<p>(This project is ongoing and will be updated accordingly.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Language of Tir Fradi, the Yecht Fradi: a Dictionary and Guide</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="WordSection1">
  <p class="MsoNormal">     The language of the natives of <span class="SpellE">Tir</span> <span class="SpellE">Fradi</span>, which they call the
blessed tongue, or the <span class="SpellE">Yecht</span> <span class="SpellE">Fradi</span>,
appears to be distantly related to many of the languages spoken within the
territories of the Congregation of Merchants, and seems to have even more in
common with the antiquated scriptural language of the privileged texts of <span class="SpellE">Theleme</span>, a derivative of which is spoken by the citizens
today.</p>
  <p class="MsoNormal">     Compare, for example, <span class="SpellE"><i>Dor</i></span>, as the natives say, to “door,” which is the
meaning of this native word. <i>Rind</i> in the <span class="SpellE">yecht</span>
<span class="SpellE">fradi</span> correlates with “ring,” as does <i>Car</i> with
“care.” There are numerous other examples of common root words that have
undergone little or no phonemic or semantic change since whatever original,
united group or tribe split and some of those ancient individuals carried their
language to the distant shores of <span class="SpellE">Tir</span> <span class="SpellE">Fradi</span> just as others settled in geographically isolated
corners of <span class="SpellE">Gecane</span>. It could even be possible that <span class="SpellE">Tir</span> <span class="SpellE">Fradi</span> is the ancient home
from which the ancestors of all who live upon the mainland today set forth,
though this proposition is presented as a philosophical curiosity more than a
genuine suggestion that such an outlandish sequence of events is likely to be
the truth.</p>
  <p class="MsoNormal">     This discovery, that languages
separated by such vast physical barriers share a common source, has exciting
implications and validates the study of our ancient texts, as the ability to
translate much older forms of our own and our neighbors' languages will lend
itself immeasurably to learning the <span class="SpellE">Yecht</span> <span class="SpellE">Fradi</span>. </p>
  <p class="MsoNormal">     The natives of <span class="SpellE">Tir</span>
<span class="SpellE">Fradi</span> have taken upon themselves the great burden of
translation, teaching themselves and their children our trade tongues, but true
communication relies upon nuanced understanding of the overlaps and gaps
between both languages on the parts of both parties. We have already learned
much of value from our dear guests and allies-- what more might we glean if we
had a subtler understanding of the <span class="SpellE">Yecht</span> <span class="SpellE">Fradi</span>? Semantics do not always cooperate to create accurate
and complex translations, and since there are many students throughout <span class="SpellE">Gecane</span> who have the basic skills necessary by virtue of
diligent study of antiquity and its languages, I propose that we channel this
untapped resource and set them to work learning the living language of <span class="SpellE">Tir</span> <span class="SpellE">Fradi</span>, which is truly a land
of blessings.</p>
  <p class="MsoNormal">     To that end, what follows is the
scaffolding of what I hope will become a <span class="GramE">fully-realized</span>
guide to understanding and using the <span class="SpellE">Yecht</span> <span class="SpellE">Fradi</span>.</p>
  <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
  <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div><p>A to, oi!	(I say) to you, oy!<br/>
andevourshd tir e	| _____ the earth he/she/it is<br/>
anemen shadi	        | shadow spirits<br/>
anemhaid	        | firey soul<br/>
bedri	                | (burial place of the first high king)<br/>
beraig nodas	        | sap carriers<br/>
carants	                | ally<br/>
cengeden anedas	| storm warriors<br/>
cergganaw	        | circle song<br/>
cergsaunsei	        | circle dance<br/>
couwis	                | cave of knowledge<br/>
credgwen	                | heart trees<br/>
credhenes	        | the (one) heart<br/>
cwe es	                | who are you<br/>
cwenvar	                | tall trees<br/>
daintnem	                | teeth sky<br/>
did e kiden nadaigeis	| (ruins of the first guardian)<br/>
doneia egsregaw	| (rebels against invasion)<br/>
doneigad	                | wiseman/woman<br/>
doneigada	        | wisemen/women<br/>
dorgred	                | heart's gates<br/>
dorhadgenedu	       | door of renewal<br/>
en on mil frichtamen	| he of a thousand faces<br/>
falrhistel	                | promises in stone<br/>
frasoneigad	       | "the Ancients' woods"<br/>
glendgnamvar	        | shore of the tall bones<br/>
lugeid blau	        | yellow eyes<br/>
magasvar	               | vale of the great battle<br/>
mal	                       | chieftain<br/>
meinei falag	        | rocky mounts<br/>
minundhanem	       | soulmate<br/>
nadaig frasamen	| protector of the forest<br/>
nadaig glendemen	| protector of beach/coast<br/>
nadaig megamen	| protector of plains and hills<br/>
nadaig meneimen	| protector of mountains and peaks<br/>
nadaig vedemen	| protector of swamp<br/>
sisaig cnameis	        | bone blowers<br/>
steiger falag	        | rocky steps<br/>
tir dob	                | black land<br/>
vasrigen	               | grave of queens<br/>
vedleug	               | lightning wood<br/>
vedrad	               | red woods<br/>
vedrhais	               | spear woods<br/>
vedvilvie	               | swamp of 1000 lives<br/>
vegaig awelas	       | wind weavers<br/>
vighulgsob	       | black ulgs village<br/>
vignamri	              | bones of the king village<br/>
vigshadhir	       | long shadows<br/>
vigsoneigad	       | village of the old sage<br/>
vigyigidaw	       | healed wound village<br/>
vogelaig credeis	| guardians of the heart<br/>
voglendaiga	       | apprentice<br/>
wenshaganaw	       | singing waters<br/>
wenshavarr       	| water from the peaks<br/>
wenshaveye       	| water white<br/>
Yecht Fradí       	| (Natives' name for themselves)<br/>
yigaig srodi	       | river healers</p>
<p> </p>
<p>From the attested translations above and through conversation with various fradimen, the following root words can be surmised:</p>
<p>aid	       | firey<br/>
aig	       | person/one who<br/>
airni	       | iron<br/>
anem	| soul<br/>
awel	       | wind<br/>
bed       	| burial<br/>
ber	       | carry<br/>
ber/aig	| one who carries<br/>
bod		| back<br/>
c/gred	| heart<br/>
car		| care/dear<br/>
car/a/nt/s	| you caring (friend)<br/>
ceng/o/t/s    | you marching (soldier)<br/>
cou		| cave<br/>
did		| ruin<br/>
dob		| black<br/>
dor		| door/gate<br/>
e		| he/she/it is<br/>
ent		| they are<br/>
es		| you are<br/>
fal		| stone<br/>
fras		| forest/woods<br/>
g]nam	| bone<br/>
gais/rhais	| spear<br/>
glend	| beach/coast<br/>
me		| me<br/>
meg		| plains and hills<br/>
men		| mountain<br/>
mil		| thousand<br/>
nad		| protector (bonded to the land)<br/>
neis		| our<br/>
nodas	| sap<br/>
rad		| red<br/>
ren/      | sea<br/>
ren/aig/se | sea/one who/coming from (person from the sea)<br/>
rhistel	| promise<br/>
ri[g]		| king/queen<br/>
shad	| shadow<br/>
sir            | sister (direct address)<br/>
sis		| blow<br/>
sis/aig	| one who blows<br/>
son		| old/elder/ancestor<br/>
srodi	| river<br/>
tir		| land/earth<br/>
to		| you<br/>
var[r]	| heights/peak/great<br/>
vas		| tomb<br/>
ved		| swamp<br/>
veg		| weave (noun)<br/>
veg/aig	| weaver<br/>
veye		| white<br/>
vig		| village<br/>
vogel	| guard<br/>
vogel/aig	| guardian (human)<br/>
wensha	| water<br/>
wis		| wisdom/knowledge<br/>
yig		| heal</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Source and Grammar:<br/>The Yecht Fradi language seems to be derived from the Celtic branch of Indo-European languages (though I find a proto-Celtic dictionary useful, my Proto-Indo-European dictionary has been far moreso). Many of the roots are recognizable (look at “sky teeth” daintnem and think “dental”), and the grammatical structure seems predictable and uncomplicated. It looks like verbs conjugate just like Latin and many of its modern daughter languages with unique endings to indicate the person and number of the subject (it looks like the endings are nearly identical to those used in Latin and they might correspond with French), but I would surmise that word order is relatively stable because unlike Latin and ancient Greek, I don’t see many recurring endings on nouns that would serve as case markers. Those that are present are probably indicating plurality. Participles look suspiciously Latin, which is why I’ve translated carants as “you caring” from the base "car" meaning care, a connecting vowel "a" the "nt" present active participial marker and "s" which would be the singular second person marker. It’s totally regular, so I’m attracted to assuming this is correct, but it’s worth noting so it doesn’t become a problem later.</p>
<p>Sound Shifts:<br/>From the codex, we get a nice list of easily-translatable nouns, but not many verbs, and it’s in verbs that I would expect vowel gradation and other shifts, so I’m not sure yet if that’s an active feature of this language, though I would guess not (in my experience with ancient Greek and Latin, those shifts are often tense markers, which is probably not well-developed in this conlang). I do, however, see consonantal shifts, particularly with gutturals, that seem to be dependent on placement within a word. For example, the root for “heart” is cred when it is the first part of a word, as in credgwen, but it appears as gred when it follows another syllable, as in dorgred. Changing from unvoiced to voiced is a small shift, but it’s something worth keeping in mind when trying to translate and isolate root words.</p>
<p>Progress and Process:<br/>I’m still working on collecting samples of the language to try and translate (and making the time to translate). Sadly, many of the place-names in the game are going to be useless in translating verbs, pronouns, particles, and so on, so it’s going to be slow going, but I’m confident that it can be done. If anyone would like to contribute, screenshots of captions would be fantastic along with context (context is so helpful with this kind of work).<br/>My process is identifying the same roots/constructions/particles in different samples that can help “verify” that a proposed translation is correct. For example, the phrase that merchants shout at De Sardet, A to, oi, probably means “hey you,” but I need to see all those words in other contexts to see if it’s plausible (I’m pretty sure it’s literally “to you, hey,” but I’m assuming the demonstrative pronoun and preposition are basically Latin). </p>
<p>I’m not a linguist, though I have some “functional basics” that were taught to me by the professors who taught me ancient Greek and etymology in college. In addition to ancient Greek, I’ve studied Latin and German. For me, this is good fun, but I’m sure I’m not “the right person” for this job.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t recommend using this to try and compose original phrases in the Yecht Fradi language because there’s a lot that has to be done to a root to make a word, let alone a sentence, but I hope this dictionary and guide will eventually get there. I’m happy to help with projects, and I’d be even happier to accept help with this one! If you use this guide, please credit and link back. Also, check back for updates and expansions! 😊</p></blockquote></div></div>
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